Come Once Again And Love Me
by autumnrose2010
Summary: The lives and loves, hopes and dreams of the Tudors, celebrated in song. WIP
1. Forever Autumn

**Mary Boleyn would always mourn the loss of her brother and sister...  
**

**The summer sun is fading as the year grows old  
And darker days are drawing near  
The winter winds will be much colder  
Now you're not here**

For as long as Mary could remember, it had been the three of them, herself, George and Anne. George had always been everything one could ask for in a brother - friend, advisor, protector. The rivalry with Anne had frequently been bitter, but in spite of it all, there had always been an unbreakable bond there.

**I watch the birds fly south across the winter sky  
And one by one they disappear  
I wish that I was flying with them  
Now you're not here**

Mary didn't know how she could go on without George and Anne. Even now, it was still so hard to believe that they were truly gone. They had known each other their entire lives, had grown up together, and should have grown old together. It wasn't supposed to have ended this way.

**Like the sun through the leaves you came to love me  
Like a leaf on the breeze you blew away**

Yet it had. A single blow of the axe had brought a swift end to everything George could have ever been, a single sweep of the sword to everything Anne could have been. Mary's young niece Elizabeth was now motherless, and Mary's own children, Catherine and Henry, had lost their aunt and uncle.

**Through autumn's golden gown we used to kick our way  
You always loved this time of year  
Those fallen leaves lie undisturbed now  
Cause you're not here**

Fondly, Mary remembered playing in the autumn leaves with George and Anne when they had been children. They had run through them listening to the crackling sound they made under shoes, gather them in piles and then scatter them, collect them and look at the different shades of yellow and red.

**A gentle rain falls softly on my weary eyes  
As if to hide a lonely tear  
My life will be forever autumn  
Cause you're not here**

No other loss could equal the loss of a brother or sister, Mary knew all too well. No one else had known her for as long or as well, had shared as many joys, sorrows, memories. Two lives were gone, and a third would never be the same again.


	2. Kiss Me Goodbye

**"If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it is yours forever. If it doesn't, it never was." Princess Elizabeth/Robert Dudley  
**

"I came to tell you good-bye, Bess." He sounded as if he were struggling not to cry. "Tomorrow Amy Robsart and I are to be wed. I'm...I'm so sorry."

She looked into his eyes and saw pain mixed with longing. Tomorrow he would be wearing a smile, dancing gaily with his new bride, while she stood watching silently with a heart as heavy as a stone.

**We chose it, win or lose it  
Love is never quite the same  
I love you, now I've lost you  
Don't feel bad, you're not to blame  
So kiss me good-bye and I'll try not to cry  
All the tears in the world won't change your mind  
There's someone new and she's waiting for you  
Soon your heart will be leaving me behind  
Linger awhile, then I'll go with a smile  
Like a friend who just happened to call  
For the last time pretend you are mine  
My darling, kiss me good-bye**

"She's a lovely girl, Robin," Elizabeth said. "You did very well. I know that you will be happy with her."

As the daughter of a King, she herself would be useful as a bargaining chip, a bride for a foreign prince to seal an alliance with his country. France or Spain, perhaps, or maybe Portugal. They both knew that. He had accepted it and moved on. Why couldn 't she?

**I know now I must go now  
Though my heart wants me to stay  
That girl is your tomorrow  
I belong to yesterday**

"I'll never forget you, Bess," he said. "Every time I kiss Amy, it will be your lips I am thinking of. Every time Amy and I make..."

"No, Robin, don't say it!" She felt the tears welling in her eyes. "Please, just don't say it. I can't bear to hear the words."

"I'm so sorry," he repeated awkwardly.

"Please, Robin, just kiss me one last time. One last time, and I will try to make it last a lifetime."

"Your foreign prince, whoever he may turn out to be..." Robert paused to run a hand over his eyes, which were moist with tears. "He'd better treat you right. He'd just better."

She gently put a finger to his lips. "Please, Robin, no more words. Just kiss me one last time before you go."

He did, and she closed her eyes and tried with all her might to make the moment linger for as long as she could. When it was over, he gently caressed her cheek with a far-away look in his eyes.

"Perhaps someday, Bess, when we are older and more in control of our lives, free to make our own choices..."

"That's just a dream, Robin, and you know it is. Please, just go. Go to your bride, your future. Leave me here with my memories."

"I love you, Bess. I will always love you. Never forget that."

He gave her one last look with eyes full of longing, then turned to go. Tears flowed freely down her face as she watched his figure grow smaller and smaller.


	3. Kiss Me In The Rain

**Bess/Robin fluff  
**

Hot tears stung her eyes as she ran away from the group of children as quickly as she could.

"Bess! Wait!" His long legs quickly closed the distance between them.

"Go away, Robin!" She couldn't bear for him to see her like this.

"No, I won't. I won't go away and leave you here crying all alone."

As her tear-streaked face turned to meet him, she knew that there was no use in trying to hide her hurt feelings from him.

"Francis said I haven't any mother, only a stepmother!"

"He's wrong, Bess. You _do _have a mother, and just because she's in heaven now doesn't mean she isn't your mother still."

The urge to strike the other boy was almost overpowering. Only his concern for Elizabeth surpassed his anger.

"I know that, but sometimes I just miss her _so _much."

"I know you do, Bess." He smiled gently and reached for her hand. "Why don't you come over for dinner tonight?"

Elizabeth smiled through her tears. "I'll have to ask first, of course, but I'm sure it'll be all right."

A soft rain began to fall as they re-joined the group of children, who were now returning to the classroom.

**I remember sitting on the front steps  
Feeling the softness of a warm summer rain  
I see the reflections of my mind  
All the sadness, all the pain  
Visions of yesterday  
How fast they slip away  
And though my dreams have come and gone  
With one wish I can say  
Kiss me in the rain  
And make me feel like a child again  
Bring back all those memories  
Kiss me in the rain  
And make me feel like a child again  
With the feeling that I get  
I don't even mind if we get wet**

Elizabeth loved having dinner with Robert's large and boisterous but happy family. It was so very different from the quiet dinners she usually shared with her governess, Kat Ashley.

Robert and his four brothers nearly came to blows over who would have the honor of sitting beside Elizabeth. As usual, she ended up seated between Robert and Ambrose, the two brothers who were closest to her in age. She giggled as Henry, the youngest, made faces at her from across the table. Guilford poked Henry in the side with his elbow, and John, the oldest brother, glared at them both.

"It's so lovely to see you again, my dear," Robert's mother told Elizabeth. Lady Dudley had a soft spot in her heart for Elizabeth, treating her much as she did her own daughters but taking care to show her the extra warmth and affection she knew the girl needed from time to time.

"Thank you, madam," Elizabeth said politely. She enjoyed the visit so much that she dreaded the sight of Kat Ashley coming to collect her. Robert's mother gave her a quick hug and kissed her forehead as she said good-bye, and Elizabeth hugged Lady Dudley and buried her face in her friend's mother's skirts.

**And if I drift outside myself  
Please don't turn away  
I'm searching for the innocence  
I've lost along the way  
Come join me in my fantasy  
Step out of space and time  
There's only one thing left to do  
So if you wouldn't mind  
Kiss me in the rain  
And make me feel like a child again  
Bring back all those memories  
Kiss me in the rain  
And make me feel like a child again  
With the feeling that I get  
I don't even mind if we get wet**

Dark storm clouds threatened overhead, but the newlyweds hardly noticed them. They were on top of the world, in love with life and with each other.

"At last I am truly yours, my sweet Robin, and you are mine!" Elizabeth exulted.

"I love you so much, my darling Bess." Robert held her tightly and looked at her with adoring eyes. "I always have, and I always will."

Thunder rumbled overhead, but they paid no mind. Laughing, they held hands and ran across a rolling field. He sank to his knees, pulling her down beside him, and together they tumbled in the tall grasses.

Elizabeth felt the first big raindrop hit her skin.

"Robin, it's beginning to..."

His mouth covered hers before she could finish the sentence. She sensed the passion in his caress and felt herself melting inside, weakening in response to his desire. Soon they were both drenched to the bone, and neither of them cared one whit.


	4. Today

**Lady Jane Grey and Guilford Dudley had such a very brief period of happiness before their world came crashing down...  
**

**Today, while the blossoms still cling to the vine  
I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine  
A million tomorrows shall all pass away  
'Ere I forget all the joy that is mine...today  
**

**I'll be a dandy and I'll be a rover  
You'll know who I am by the song that I sing  
I'll feast at your table, I'll sleep in your clover  
Who cares what the 'morrow may bring  
**

She ran to the horse and jumped up into the saddle. He climbed on after her, and they rode across the field with the wind blowing through their hair. It was a beautiful, sunny day, matching the joy in their hearts perfectly. She'd had no idea that such happiness could arise from a situation that had been thrust upon her against her will. If anyone had told her that it would be so, she would have laughed at them.

The sat in a boat drifting down the river, her legs dangling in front, bare feet kicking. They both laughed with pure euphoria, happy to be here together, happy to be newly in love.

**Today, while the blossoms still cling to the vine  
I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine  
I can't be contented with yesterday's glory  
I can't live on promises winter to spring  
Today is my moment and now is my story  
I'll laugh and I'll cry and I'll sing**

He had been her first, and she had been his. They were two innocents who had experienced intimacy together for the first time, and it had opened up a whole new world for them. They were walking hand in hand through the woods when he suddenly picked her up and carried her to the river bank, where he gently sat her down and sat beside her and picked up her right foot.

"What are you doing?" she asked. He laughed in response as he slowly kissed each toe on that foot, then did the same with her left foot.

She giggled. "That tickles."

He grinned and took her hand, and together they walked back to the stable, feeling that nothing could possibly ever mar their happiness.


	5. Mary In The Morning

**Philip of Bavaria/Princess Mary Tudor**

Philip of Bavaria opened his eyes to see a thin slant of sunlight lying across the sheet. Mary was still asleep, her light brown hair scattered across the pillow, her eyelashes soft against her cheeks. As he watched her chest gently rise and fall, his heart was filled with tenderness for her.

**Nothing's quite as pretty as Mary in the morning  
When through a sleepy haze I see her lying there  
Soft as the rain that falls on summer flowers  
Warm as the sunlight shining on her hair**

How well he remembered the long-ago day when he'd first seen her. Her loveliness had quite taken his breath away. From that moment on, he'd known that he had to find a way to make her his.

With his heart in his throat he'd approached her.

"May I have this dance?" he'd asked.

She'd smiled and let him lead her onto the dance floor.

"You dance so well," he'd told her.

"Thank you. So do you," she'd said with a smile.

After they'd danced he'd wanted a chance to talk to her some more, so he'd invented a story about an injury to his foot as an excuse to linger. He'd discovered that she wasn't only beautiful but highly intelligent as well. He respected her mind as well as craving her body.

**When I awake and see her there so close beside me  
I want to take her in my arms  
The ache is there so deep inside me**

He remembered how nervous he'd felt as he'd prepared to ask her father for her hand in marriage. Fortunately, King Henry VIII had agreed to the match, and he'd married the beautiful princess and brought her back to his native land.

On their wedding night, the bashful virgin he'd expected had turned out to be a bold, eager initiate instead. He'd been very pleasantly surprised at her passion and urgency.

**Nothing's quite as pretty as Mary in the morning  
Chasing a rainbow in a dream so far away  
And when she turns to touch me, I kiss her face so softly  
My Mary wakes to love another day**

Mary stirred in her sleep, and her eyes fluttered open for just a second, then closed again. She yawned mightily and blinked. Her eyes fell on Philip.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said with a grin.

"Is it morning already?" she asked.

He laughed. "I'm afraid so."

**My Mary's there in sunny days or stormy weather  
She doesn't care cause right or wrong the love we share  
We share together**

Her arms reached to go around his neck, and he held her close, inhaling the fresh scent of her hair. She raised her head to kiss his lips, and he brushed the hair back from her face.

"Oh, well," she said.

"It's not so bad, is it?" he asked.

"No, not at all." She smiled, and he smiled back at her.

**Nothing's quite as pretty as Mary in the evening  
Kissed by the shade of night and starlight in her hair  
And as we walk, I hold her close beside me  
All our tomorrows for a lifetime we will share**


End file.
